A tricycle rider identified simply as IK has allegedly beaten his lover to death and abandoned her body alongside her two children in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The incident reportedly occurred on Tuesday on CPM Street in Ogbogoro Community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Sources said the woman died after a severe assault, after which the suspect allegedly left her corpse and the two children inside a tricycle before fleeing the area.
A resident, identified as Senibo, said neighbours were alerted early in the morning after discovering the lifeless woman and the children inside a parked tricycle.
According to him, the matter was immediately reported to officers at the Ozuoba Police Division in Obio/Akpor LGA.
Senibo added that the woman’s older child informed police that the suspect, who is her father, attacked their mother with an object at a guest house where they had spent the night on Monday.
The child reportedly told investigators that the man left the woman after she became weak and later abandoned her body and the children in the tricycle before escaping.
Confirming the incident, the police spokesperson said officers responded to a distress call from a passerby who discovered the woman and children inside a blue tricycle.
She explained that a patrol team was dispatched to the location, where the woman was found dead alongside the children, aged about five years and six months.
According to the police, the five-year-old narrated that her father assaulted her mother during the night and later attempted to take her to a hospital, where she was confirmed dead.
The spokesperson added that the suspect fled after abandoning the children.
She said the deceased’s family had been notified, while the body has been deposited in a mortuary for preservation and further investigation.
Police also disclosed that the children have been handed over to a relative for care, while efforts are ongoing to apprehend the suspect.